• JonathanAndersonGitFlow

JonathanAnderson Git Workflow

This is how JonathanAnderson currently uses Git for FreeBSD development. It is unlikely to be the best way.

1. Get the complete revision history of the project (~800 MB, but you only have to do this the slow way once):

   1. If I don't have a copy lying around:

      git clone git://git.freebsd.your.org/freebsd.git

   2. If I do have a copy on the same network:

      1. git clone git://localserver/path/to/freebsd.git
         git remote rm origin
         git remote add origin git://git.freebsd.your.org/freebsd.git
         git pull

   3. optional: if you're tracking a branch other than -CURRENT:

      git checkout remotes/origin/vendor/sendmail/8.9.3

      (or remotes/origin/release/8.2.0, or remotes/origin/user/sam/wifi...)

2. Create a new branch for hacking on:

   git checkout -b newfeature

3. hack hack hack, commit byte-sized chunks to local repo, repeat

4. Stay on top of -CURRENT (spelled master in Git), or remote/origin/vendor/foo, or what have you:

   git checkout master
   git pull
   git rebase master newfeature

5. Prettify the patch stream:

   git branch new-feature-prettified master
   git cherry-pick ac238e                             # grab a commit from 'newfeature'
   git checkout newfeature sys/kern/vfs_syscalls.c    # grab a file 'newfeature' HEAD
   git checkout newfeature~6 sys/kern/foo             # six commits ago on 'newfeature'
   git checkout ac238e sys/kern/foo                   # grab a file from a particular commit

6. Reduce the unprettified branch to "stuff I haven't prettified yet":

   1. git rebase new-feature-prettified newfeature

   2. If there are conflicts:

      git add sys/kern/fixed.c && git commit && git rebase --continue

   3. If a commit has been subsumed by the prettified branch (git status is empty):

      git rebase --skip

7. Produce a patch stream for non-Git people:

   git checkout new-feature-prettified
   git format-patch master
   scp *.patch somewhere:~/foo

8. Commit the result
   1. FOR NOW: apply patches to an SVN checkout and submit them the old-fashioned way

   2. IN FUTURE: use a variant of a command

      git svn commit-diff -m "git branch to svn" -rHEAD upstream/master work/ hwpmc_kcachegrind svn+ssh://svn.freebsd.org/base/user/fabient/svctest/

This workflow says nothing about maintaining a public-facing Git branch on e.g. Github. That requires a lot more merging and a lot less rebasing.